🎵 Our Jazzfest Picks + this week in Hali
Plus, win Dinner for Two at Stone's Throw Patio w. Pretty Archie
Hey Halifax!
It’s Jazzfest week in Halifax, and we’ve got you covered with our picks for main stage shows you shouldn’t miss. We’ve also got a sweet Halifamous hat you should buy, are launching a brand new East Coast 20 music chart, giving away a dinner for two, and have incredible new singles from Goldie Boutilier and Jon Bryant to share.
Read on!
Jazz Fest turns 40, and most of it is free The Halifax Jazz Festival hits its 40th year this week, making it the oldest jazz festival in Atlantic Canada, and the 2026 edition leans harder into free than any before it: a record 75 hours of no-cost programming on the waterfront and around the city. Here are our top picks: Our picks Bahamas is the Toronto-born indie-folk star with upwards of 1 billion Spotify streams who now calls Nova Scotia home. Men I Trust are a Montreal-based dream-pop band with major cool factor and closing in on a billion Spotify streams on their top song alone. Locals Rose Cousins and Jah'Mila close out the festival on Saturday night with a free show you truly should not miss. Saturday night's main-stage show was cancelled after Broken Social Scene pulled out over a health issue. |
Win dinner for two at Stone's Throw, and catch Pretty Archie
|
The Hali Hat is here
We decided we should probably have some Halifamous merch by now, and our first drop is here. A premium cap with our embroidered Hali Flag mark. You should buy one. We only made 80. Halifamous is independent and reader-supported, so buying one is about the most direct way to back the newsletter and everything else we we're building. Grab yours now! |
Introducing The East Coast 20, our new local music chart We've been tracking data around East Coast music for the last year, and wanted to created a chart that shows which songs truly have the most momentum. It's completely data-driven, so no editorial liberties or voting mechanisms to be gamed. It considers streaming, radio play, socials, and a few other factors. Check it out and let us know what you think! We'll keep tuning it over time. This week's top 5
|
Quick Hits A few more things to know about this weekend. 🎨 Porters Lake artist Felicia Gervais went viral for her ocean art. She paints, carves and builds stained glass from a home studio on the Eastern Shore, and after one post took off her orders quadrupled and she was booked out for months. 🥇 Victoria Tran won three golds on home water. The 17-year-old Nova Scotian topped the podium at the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint Worlds on Lake Banook. ⚽ The Wanderers host Toronto FC tonight. Kickoff is 7:30 at the Wanderers Grounds, a downtown match to launch the weekend. 🌊 The first-ever Coastal Appreciation Week runs July 11 to 19. A province-wide push from the Coastal Coalition of Nova Scotia, the Ecology Action Centre and 25-plus groups to get you out to the shore. 🎭 RENT is playing at Neptune. The rock musical runs on the Fountain Hall Stage through August 30. 📻 95.7 NewsRadio is off the air. Rogers shut the Halifax news station down this week along with five other stations, cutting about 80 jobs. 🚧 Ground broke on Windsor Street Exchange Phase 2. The $180-million rebuild of one of the city's busiest interchanges is targeting substantial completion by summer 2029. |
|
|
🛒 Weekend Markets Fourteen markets across the region, Saturday + Sunday, Jul 11 & 12 – Seaport sits steps from the Jazz Fest waterfront. Saturday 8 AM–2 PM – Seaport Farmers' Market (1209 Marginal Rd) 8 AM–1 PM – Halifax Brewery Market · Alderney Landing Market · Halifax Forum Market · Truro Farmers' Market (15 Young St) 8 AM–12 PM – Hubbards Barn Market · Novalea Farmers' Market 8:30 AM–1 PM – Wolfville Farmers Market 9 AM–1 PM – Sackville Farmers' Market (Acadia Park, Lower Sackville) Sunday 9 AM–2 PM – Halifax Forum Sunday Flea 9 AM–3 PM – The Funky Flea (200 Prospect Rd, $3 cash) 10 AM–2 PM – Seaport Farmers' Market · Musquodoboit Harbour Market (Railway Museum Grounds, 7895 Hwy 7) 11 AM–3 PM – Alderney Sunday Artisan Market Heads up: the Seaport and Brewery markets sit right on the waterfront, an easy free add-on to any Jazz Fest day. |
We’ve made some serious upgrades to the calendar on our website, go check it out for the full listings! We’ll be continuing to improve it over time.
Thursday, 7/9
Live Music: Quinn LeBlanc! @ Trident Booksellers & Cafe - 6:30 PM
GOB @ Marquee Ballroom - 7:00 PM
Better Times Comedy at Good Robot @ Good Robot Brewing - Robie St. Taproom, Store & Beer Garden - 7:00 PM
TD Halifax Jazz Festival Presents: The Mingus Project @ The Carleton - 8:30 PM
Fleapit Cinema presents: CAMP @ Carbon Arc Cinema - 8:45 PM
Friday, 7/10
Dan Hendricken at Yuk Yuk's Halifax @ Yuk Yuk's Halifax Comedy Club - 8:00 PM
TD Halifax Jazz Festival Presents: Elysia Biro @ The Carleton - 8:30 PM
The Carson Downey Band @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 9:30 PM
Saturday, 7/11
Wolf Castle w/ Olympic Symphonium @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 9:30 PM
Sunday, 7/12
the world premiere of "VISION" @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 4:00 PM
Chill & Cheers – Beer Garden Outdoor Yoga @ Good Robot Brewing - Robie St. Taproom, Store & Beer Garden - 5:00 PM
Monday, 7/13
We Met at the Bookshop: After-Hours Literary Speed-Dating @ Trident Booksellers & Cafe - 6:30 PM
Tuesday, 7/14
Garrett Mason's Peace and Love Festival @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 8:30 PM
Wednesday, 7/15
Fred Eaglesmith Starring Tif Ginn - Wednesday @ The Carleton - 7:00 PM
That’s it for this week!
Got an event, release, pod, or story we should know about? Hit reply. We read everything.
P.S. Follow us on Instagram for more updates and giveaways!
More Halifax worth knowing
Keep the good stuff coming.
Get the week's best events, guides, and local music in one useful Thursday email.
11K+ local readers · Free every Thursday